The Finite Dawn
by Zanzetkuken the Great
Summary: The rift opened, dropping two beings, a dragon with the coloration of the wind variant, and what appeared to be a human, but a fair deal shorter. With the final human captured, the arrival of the latter was seen with anger and fear, the possibility of humans surviving becoming greater. Really, more concern should have been placed on those who came through, rather than a return...
1. The Dwarf and the Dragon

**It's been awhile Fanfiction. Let's try this again.**

**I own only what is mine. No I am not saying anything more than that, or make a smartass commen-dammit!**

* * *

Omega watched as two entities fell from the rift. The first appeared to be a dragon, gray colored as the ones of the wind elementals, apparently around a few years older then Ember was. He quickly wrote it off and looked over at the other entity, and what he saw amazed him. The person was shorter than him, but Omega did not have a doubt in his mind. The wasn't the last of his kind. Though, based upon the way the Future Guardian was shouting, he might be reduced to the last of his kind soon.

* * *

Solon was pissed. He fought through all of that, and the gods _still_ didn't smite him. _That seriously should have pissed them off enough to have made me a werebeast. That should've worked, at least a dozen told us to not go there, and quite a few more didn't want me to clear the place._

The dwarf felt his draconic companion, Faream poke at his mind. _You know that it was just as likely that they would turn you into a vampire as well._

_Any excuse to keep everyone away from me._

_Really, though, I don't see why we were put here. That Pit being closed would have pissed off _all _the gods. _Faream 'said'. _It _was _one of the power leakages from Armok that they routinely feed off of._

_..._

_Solon?_

_It was motherfucking Armok, wasn't it. We did something he liked, and our 'reward' is being sent to...where are we?_

_Apparently in front of someone who is pissed off at us and shouting to guards._

_So, the usual._

_Pretty much._

Solon shifted his focus away from the conversation to get a look at the situation. Nearby was a cheetahman and a human male, neither of whom having apparently been in any serious battle before, their less than musclebound natures showing easily to the dwarf's trained eye. The human did have a fairly high quality sword in his possession and the cheetahman had a older staff.

He looked over at the shouting noble, and took note of the dragon. It was around the 89 to 135 year range in terms of size, and was emblazoned with yellow scales.

_That's not odd..._

_I thought I was the only mutant, _Faream 'responded'.

_Apparently this one can talk, joy._

_And is high ranking._

_Why do you say that?_

_ten__...twelve incoming. Rest of the camp on high alert._

_How far out?_

_Roughly half a minute._

_Can you do a language rip? It'd be a pain to have to deal with._

_Certainly._

Solon braced himself for the minor pain, which was greatly reduced by the mild enjoyment he had at the sudden jump of the dragon, as well, he noticed, as the human and cheetahman did as well.

After the dragon shook itself off from the unexpected sting, it said "What was that?"

Solon then commented, "Well, it's good to know _that_ worked."

"Where did you come from hum-"

"Hey! I resent being called a human, wyrm! I am of the dwarven race and I am running off the energy of kicking out a shitton of demons out of fortress where I was thrown into a arena by a dumbass mayor for a crime he was okay with for a few dozen years! Damn it felt good kicking his demon-infused ass too a paste..."

"You're a criminal, human?" the dragon said as the human seemed to look downtrodden when Solon said he was not a human.

"THAT'S what you got out of that!"

_0 seconds._

The creatures who were apparently under the command of the dragon came into the tent and proceeded to surround Solon and Faream, who then proceeded to go through a shared mental evaluation of the situation for the likely coming fight.

_Let me see...lost sword..._

_Worn talons..._

_Broken armor..._

_Dented scales..._

_Weary from a battle..._

_Low on energy..._

_Trapped in an unknown land..._

_Already branded criminals..._

_Surrounded by hostiles..._

Still _better odds than when we started._

_Quite._

"Why do you still stand there?" the dragon spoke.

"Because I want to." replied Solon.

"I was not talking to you, hu-"

"Dwarf!"

"Human. I was talking to the youngling."

"Don't think-"

"Silence!"

"No."

"Silence human! Youngling, step away from the human!"

Faream quickly contacted Solon, 'saying', _Brokenhall?_

Solon allowed himself a small smile and 'responded', _Brokenhall._

Faream then responded openly to all those within the tent, _Fine_._  
_

* * *

Omega watched as the gray dragon launched itself forwards, embedding its shoulder spikes into the neck of the startled Future Guardian. The young dragon then yanked itself up, piercing the other side of the dragon's neck with its tail and tearing open the Future Guardian's throat. The 'dwarf' then rapidly stabbed its broken shortsword up through the jaw of an Atlawa, and stole its spear. Letting go of the sword and tossing the spear to its other hand, the dwarf then turned and threw the weapon right through the left eye of the turning head of the Guardian, killing the electric dragon rapidly. The gray dragon leapt and ripped open the throat of another of the soldiers. The dragon knocked the weapon to the hands of the waiting dwarf, who had just collapsed the windpipe of another Atwala and drew his blade out of the first, catching the tossed spear in his open hands. The dwarf dodged the spear thrust towards him and tossed the shard of his blade, it landing right between the eyes of the wolven soldier, who was used as a springboard of the dragon to kill the next soldier. Another moved to stab the dragon, but the shaft was knocked aside by the thrown body of the impaled wolf, the cheetah having scant time to recognize this fact before a spear thrown by the dwarf impaled through its skull. By this time, the remaining five recovered from their surprise and three moved to keep the dwarf and the dragon busy while the others attempted to call up more soldiers. Then the dwarf shouted, "Scatter." The soldiers moved to intercept an escape from either of the two, and the dwarf smirked.

Suddenly, the dragon launched out five shots of ice, to everyone's shock except for the dwarf's. When four of the shots killed four of the soldiers, while the fifth managed to dodge. The Vulpine smirked for a second, before a groaning was heard. The fifth ice shard had struck the central pylon of the tent, causing it to collapse upon the fifth, trapping it. The dwarf then drew a knife, and tossed it right into the Vulpine's skill, killing it. The dragon proceeded to rip the blade out of the wolf's skull, and the two approached Omega and the cheetah.

Omega instinctively reached for his blade, but the dwarf's broken sword trapped his hand, the dwarf then saying, "I'm Solon, that's Faream-"

_Hi._

"...and I would rather not have everyone I meet end up dead so let's get out of here before..." The dwarf turned his head to the dragon for a few seconds before continuing, "the entire remaining eighty-eight of this camp come down on top of us. We'll talk later, but I would like to know the names of the people I just saved."

When Omega recovered from his shock he responded with, "Fine." _I hope Silonya doesn't react too badly to this._

_Don't worry. I'm betting on it._

* * *

_You owe me fifty gold._

"Shut it."

_No._

The Vulpine, Silonya tossed them both back, sending them sprawling on the dirt of the cave. "Damn woman. Last time I got a girl that feisty was when I said I didn't have enough mone-"

Solon shut up to dodge a dagger thrown towards his head, causing it to impact in the dirt, the meaning clear.

As Silonya took Omega off to the side to 'talk' to him, and after Solon and Faream got off of their backs, Faream noticed a pink scaled dragon lying near the back of the cave, then 'said' to Solon, _thirty gold on that I can get her to like me._

"I'll give you fifty if it doesn't result in you getting slapped."

_Deal._

As the gray dragon began to walk off, the son of the hermit came over to the dwarf and said, "In all the time I have been travelling, I have never seen anything quite like you two."

"Based on what I hear, non-red dragons are a dime a dozen around here. Though, I can give you the part about a dwarf based on what I've heard and the culture info Faream copied from your minds."

"He...I shouldn't ask, should I?" replied the hermit's son.

The dwarf leaned back before continuing, "Nope, and recognizing that makes you one of the smartest people I know of. Honestly, I was lying about the culture bit. He's running on empty right now, he barely had enough for the scatter shot after he got just how to speak your language out of your minds."

The cheetah sighed, before continuing. "Ah. Still, you two are quite different, despite the racial differences."

"How so?" the dwarf said, leaning forwards intently.

"You two are more focused on aggravating each other than the fact that you were tossed through a rift, that, as you say, took you to another world."

The dwarf relaxed. "Simple, our world was shit."

The cheetah in turn grew interested, saying, "What do you mean?"

The dwarf sighed. "There's the Evil biomes, which are... well, pretty terrifying, after all. You cut up a zombie into 10 pieces and all of them are still trying to kill you. Especially the hair. Some fog, that doesn't sound so bad. Oh wait, all your friends who went in the cloud now want to kill you and everything alive in this world. And they're twice as strong. Oh, and if you haven't ever faced a zombie sperm whale, or god forbid a zombie giant sponge, I envy you.

The humans of our world may seem friendly, but if you kick one of their chickens out of their way they will all rush out and knife you. even the children. ESPECIALLY the children. Then, there's every animal you may have ever been afraid of, and basically all of the bipedal versions you've met, but quadrupedal instead, there is a giant version of it in our world.

Now your fellow dwarves, they aren't the safest fellows either; Do you work as a brewer? That's nice. Now please receive _50 hammerstrokes_ for not making some armor stands for the mayor. If you're lucky enough to avoid the hammerstrokes you get to be chained in the jail for a couple months. With no food or water. You might just be chatting away with your friend one moment, the next he looses a roaring laughter, and you're a table. And never forget that anyone could be a vampire, just waiting to suck all your blood out."

The cheetah was shocked. "I cannot even begin to comprehend how anyone could survive that."

The dwarf shrugged. "We managed. Even managed to have fun from time to time." He looked over to see Faream messing with a few crystals the other dragon had given to him, which he gave back, despite the female's insistence. "Like so..." He shouted over, just loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough for Omega or Silonya, who were at the cave entrance, to hear "Hey! Do I owe you fifty gold yet?" Faream shot his glance over, betrayal evident. Solon turned away, closing his eyes and slowly raising his hand, before bringing it down precisely when a slap of the female's paw hitting the face of Faream occurred.

The son of the Hermit gave a mild chuckle. Solon then asked, "What were those crystals anyway?"

"You don't have any of those?"

"Nope. Different world, remember?"

"Yes, but those crystals are used to power up a dragon's energy for their elemental attacks. If your world doesn't have those, how do dragons get their energy?"

"Do dragons of this world regain elemental energy over time?"

"Yes, but it is extremely slo-oh."

"There you go. By the way, how long does it take for energy to regain to full?"

The Cheetah thought for a few moments, before replying, "If I recall correctly, the last time it was done, it took around five months to reach a quarter strength."

The dwarf whistled. "Wow."

The Hermit's son replied, confused, "Is that fast?"

"No, stupid slow. Far's the most powerful dragon we know of in our world, and it takes him only a month and a half to recharge to full. Two and quarter if he's trying to overcharge for an exceptionally big battle."

The Cheetah was surprised, "That means that the crystals have an adverse effect. More power now-"

"But over the long term, it takes longer to regain the energy naturally, and possibly other effects. How long do dragons typically live?"

"Four to five hundred."

"Holy shit! Where we come from, if they manage to last long enough, a dragon can live over ten thousand years!"

_What about dragons?_

"Oh, hey your back," Solon said.

_No thanks to you._

"Hey, had to lower her expectations as much as possible."

_So she comes around later?_

"No, so she looks everywhere else!"

_Fuck you._

"Hey, you may want to tell her something."

_What?_

"The crystals lower her lifespan by over nine thousand years."

_Holy shit._

"And reduce long-term nat-recharge by a factor of 24."

_Holy fuck._

"Faream," said the hermit.

_Yes?_

"How is it you have the same powers as a purple dragon?"

_A what?_

"Ah yes, I should not take things for granted. A purple dragon is a dragon with access to the four primary: Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Earth, and the secondary: Wind, Water, Shadow, Poison, Fear, and the rare Time, Life..."

_Let me cut you off there._

"You lack some of these?"

_It's not what I lack, its that you fucked up. The nine elements are: water which would include ice since all ice is is very cold water, fire, earth, air, energy, which would compose electric and light, shadow, poison, time, and mind, which is not just fear, but also happiness, sadness, and all other emotions as well as logic and reason. The other things you call elements would be recombinations of these nine._

"That is just-"

"We're leaving."

The group of three turned to the speaker, Silonya. "What? We just got here!" Solon replied.

Silonya glared at him. "You stirred up the whole area and I have to protect Omega."

"Why? Go into a random town and toss a rock. You'll piss off thirty, at least!"

This seemed to startle Silonya for a few seconds, before she regained her composure and said, "Don't ask, just do."

Solon picked himself off the ground as she left and stretched. "Meh, only got in about half a mile, and I'll be damned if I go for anything less than 20 with the sun where its at. Faream, you think you can talk with the girl about the crystals."

_I can try._

"I'll stay with you." The Hermit's son said. "I have some more questions about your world I would like to ask."

"That's alright with me. Just one thing. What's your name?"

"Tarhsun."

"No shit."

"What?"

"Your name, spelled as nushrat is the word for 'Keeper' in the language of the humans from where I come from. This could be interesting."

* * *

**Other than references to it, very little of this fanfic will include Dwarf Fortress, so that is why I put it only under 'Spyro the Dragon'. No, not everything that is referenced is in the game. Especially what is implied by some of Solon's comments...**

**Anyway, rate and review.**


	2. Travelling Conversations

**Wow, what was I thinking when I was speaking as the author in that last chapter. And where the hell did some of that humor come from? Must've been half asleep. Oh well, here's another chapter.**

**Oh, did some clearing house on my other stories. Don't worry about it, I was just clearing out author's notes to something shorter.**

* * *

It took some time, but after a fairly heated argument, it was agreed that Solon and Tarhsun would follow from the ground, Omega and Silonya would take the Skurvywing, and Faream would fly with Ember to the next destination. The final point was what had produced the most contention, since Ember was a prisoner, which Solon and Faream reacted with annoyance. It was not the fact she was a prisoner that they were annoyed with, but the fact that she was taken as a prisoner because of an act of vengeance in what Solon called 'the equivalent of a bandit raid' rather than in a war on the field of battle. Eventually, an agreement was reached that Ember would be able to fly rather than be carried on the Skurvywing, tied up, but Faream would have to watch her and make sure she wouldn't leave. Faream mildly grumbled at this to Solon, but the dwarf replied with, "We've already pissed off the country we are in. Why add the one group we currently have...non-hostile relations with to that list for now."

* * *

Solon and Tarhsun hid in the underbrush as another patrol passed by.

Tarhsun whispered, "That skurvy' could have held us both, in addition to the human and vulpine, but you just _had_ to insist on going by land."

Solon whispered back as the patrol began to clear, "Dwarves aren't too good with heights. You didn't _have_ to come."

"I was asked to, to make sure that you weren't going to try to get good standing with the Avalar Nation," replied Tarhsun as the final soldier of the patrol cleared past them.

"'Girl needs to be less paranoid," Solon said as the patrol cleared the nearby hill and the two continued onward. "'Kid could probably take care of himself if she wasn't trying to do everything for him all the time. Hell, I've seen children less than _six_ take on their whole village with a single knife before!"

"Remember, this is a different world than the one you are used to." The cheetah heard another patrol coming soon, and tapped Solon's shoulder, and both got down in more underbrush in order to hide from the next patrol.

"Right about that. Everyone here's too coddled for their own good. What does it take to get Armok working his magic around here."

The Cheetah was confused. "Who's Armok?"

"I've said many things, but this is one of the most important: If you even suspect Armok has influence in something, be very scared and, if possible, run away fast."

"Have you done that before?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"I originally lied and called it searching for glory. In reality, I'm too stubborn for my own good."

* * *

"They can't be _that_ bad, Sil'."

Silonya glanced back, mildly annoyed. "How do you know that?"

"They managed to get me away from the encampment."

"Which by their own admission they only did so because you were the only one they hadn't killed yet."

"Well, Discharge _did_ threaten the h-dwarf, and the dragon _is_ closely allied with him."_  
_

Silonya glared, before returning to directing the Skurvywing. "While that is true, the only thing keeping them allied with us is the fact that we are the only ones that aren't after them right now. The instant we come acro-"

"Who?"

Silonya glared again, "What do you mean by, 'Who'?"

Omega shrugged. "They didn't agree to how we captured Ember, and that is only one being. All the other people I can think of do much worse than capture one single person, and that dwarf isn't welcome anywhere due to looking so much like a human, so I ask, who? Who will they go to?"

Silonya was silent for a while, Omega eventually said, "You know I am right don't you."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you trust them so much?"

"They are the greatest source of knowledge of humans I have. Even though they might be from another world, their knowledge could tell me a lot about humans. Plus, they know a lot about combat. It could prove useful for me to learn a bit from them."

"Your mother taught you and she went through a war."

"And she was still amazed by the power the dragons had. Saying that if a dragon ever attacked, don't try to fight it. Wait for the crew to assist. But these two...they landed a blow on him within half a second, and the Dragon barely registered that blow by the time they had killed him, then they took out over half the guard, that was trained to the point that they could hold back dragons long enough for the rest of a force to immobilize them, within a few seconds. Account however much of it to surprise as you want, they made it look as if it was easy. Like they had done it many, many times before. Either they are exceptionally lucky, or they have skills beyond anyone on this planet."

* * *

"Get away from me!" Ember shouted as Faream blocked her path again.

She moved in another direction to escape and Faream blocked that way again. _Sorry, can't I have to honor the deal._

"Why!? You could significantly help our race, but you are helping these...these..."

_Bandits? Murderers? Right now I don't care. They are the only ones who haven't opened with a threat towards Solon._

"Why do you help him!? He's a human! Don't you kno-"

_He's a _dwarf._ Why are you people so blind to that fact._

"_What is the difference!"_

_Frankly, a lot. Humans live above ground and are devoutly religious. Dwarves live underground and frequently drink alcohol so they can fight terrors like forgotten eldrich beasts, goblins, demons, and, the worst of them all, their own nobility._

"Who...wait. Their own nobility? That explains...a lot, really."

_Oh don't think it's some rebellious shit. Nobility instantly goes to their heads and they order a table constructed. Then when it expires, they send a hammerer out with instructions to kill...the fort's brewer._

"Why would...what...how does that..."

_Dwarves._

"Why would you help one of them if they act like that!"

_Simple. Solon was the only sane noble, and they tried executing him for it. I was in the same batch, though._

Ember shied away, and asked, nervously, "What did you do?"

_Nothing, they didn't want me to infect anyone._

"Infect anyone?"

_I was a mutant. These dwarves raised dragons as pets-_

"WHAT!?"

_Quiet down, will you please._

Ember's face turned to one of fury. "Why. were they. Enslaving. Dragons. And why. Are you. So okay. With that."

_Simple. First question: Dragons had no method of communication so they were considered to be little more than beasts. Second question: They were dumbasses that insulted me near every day to the point where I wanted to commit suicide just because I didn't have red scales and my fire was weak._

Ember became confused. "Why did they bully you over having non-red scales and not being able to breathe fire? Lots of dragon's don't breathe fire."

_Where I come from, dragons are only red, only breathe fire, and are a bunch of pride pricks. You may have it differently, but that is just your world. Mine is _a lot _different. Speaking of which lay off the crystals._

Ember became suspicious. "Why? They are my best bet of getting out of here. If I find some of the blues so my power gets just a little stronger..."

_Where I come, dragons don't have those and live for tens of thousands of years. Here, where you have them, dragons only live for a few hundred. Also, while it only takes me a month, month and a half, to recharge to full, it takes your kind several months to recharge even a fraction of your power. Those crystals don't make you stronger. They kill you._

Faream saw the Skurvywing angle towards a cave. He followed it, and Ember followed him in stunned silence. Shortly after dark, Solon and Tarhsun arrived, and the group rested for the night.

* * *

**Review if possible. Don't care about whether you flame or not, though I do prefer advice. Or you know, just a review in general. It's good to know effort is not wasted.**


	3. Plans to head off a tyrant

Solon woke a few hours before the sun would rise in a mild panic. _Where the hell is the fire. There should still have been some embers left over!_ He took a quick look around him and saw no sign of a fire. _No fire remains either. Why didn't the night creatur-... _He paused when he recalled the events of yesterday. _Oh right. Different world._

He slowly rose up slowly, mild aches working their way through his body. _Yep. I knew I would regret that level of exertion. Thank Armok I got that all that cooldown when we came to this world. Back would probably be trying to murder me like after it did when we cleared out that tower last year._

He glanced over the various sleeping forms, quickly contemplating then discarding the thought of giving Faream a kick on the shoulder to wake the dragon up. _'tid be worse than night after he first encountered a bogeyman, _Solon thought, wincing at the memory. _Damn that little guy's claws dug into my arm. Nearly lost my hand._

Solon saw Omega standing guard near the entrance. _Kid's got drive, I have to admit that. An idealistic, self-centered, revenge-bent drive with less than savory methods, but drive none the less. _Solon looked over at Faream. _Just like this little fuck had five, no, six years ago. Goddamn was that guy pissy when he was twenty-three. Must've been due to that human-form he gained reaching thirteen years. So fucking glad I managed to convince him not to use it til it was fifteen. I did _not _want to have to deal with a three year old._

Solon noticed Silonya waking up, and began faking sleep. _Might as well get the laughs I can from the self-righteous chick as I can. Need all I can get to manage to make it through a conversation with her. I fucking swear, she's worse than the elves._

The dwarf waited, and after she started on a rant he recognized as directed towards him due to usage of a series of insults to describe him, he cracked an eye and cut in with, "Keep going, sweet-cheeks. It's not like I'm awake or anything."

He quickly moved his head out of the way, a knife hitting where his head was formerly laying. "Stayin' feisty I see," the dwarf said as he stood up.

"How long were you listening?" the vulpine venomously said.

"Quiet down, you'll wake the kids," the dwarf retorted, thumb pointing towards the sleeping forms of Faream and Ember.

"Kids? What?" Omega questioned.

"Oh, you don't know? Dwarf plus Fox equals dragon. I say it was difficult crossing space-time, but..." the dwarf replied jokingly, before being punched to the ground by the vulpine in question. When Solon picked himself up, the mixed look of fury and embaressment upon Silonya's face cemented in his mind, _Yep. I'm going to be doing that again.__  
_

The look soon faded and she returned to stoic. _Going to need to be more effective next time, though...dig under the skin more. _The Fox repeated the question, "How long were you listening?"

"'bout the time the conversation started. Details are fuzzy though. I do remember you calling me a-"

"_Alright then,_" Omega cut in. "Might as well tell you, we were deciding what to do next."

"Omega..." the Fox said as she glared at him menacingly.

"He was going to find out one way or another."

"True 'dat," the dwarf said. "Also, you had no plan?"

"Well," the human said. "Sort-of a plan."

"You mean, got the last part in mind, but nothing else?"

"Yes..."

"Perfect. That means that whatever I do it can't mess things up."

The dwarf turned and headed deeper into the cave. Silonya hurried up behind him, grabbing him on the shoulder. Before the dwarf could make a comment, she asked "what are you planning?"

Solon just smiled and replied, "something !Fun!." The dwarf lowered his voice so that Omega could not hear them. "'Kid wants revenge on someone, right?"

"Yes..." Silonya replied confused as to how he knew this, but not able to voice the question before the dwarf continued.

"High ranking?"

"Yes..."

"Any people opposed to the thing?"

"There are a few, though I don't think any of them would be a good idea to go to-"

"Not looking for good ideas, just options. Is that all?"

"There _might_ be some on Omega's home continent."

"Far away?"

"Yes"

"Might as well not be an option. Where the nearest one of those groups?"

"I thought you hated vengeance. Why are you helping?"

"The vengeance he was using was only for himself. I want it redirected into something greater. I've dealt with enough tyrants already. I'd like to head this one off early. If you excuse me, I am going to have the first proper sleep I've had in over twenty years." With that, the dwarf wandered over to where he was earlier, and forced himself to return to sleep.

* * *

**Been awhile, but that's because I haven't really been able to muster up enough will to continue work on this, since there is absolutely no reviews. I don't care if it is a flame, just review! Knowing people actually care about something enough to comment really helps me work on stuff.**


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